Bowed DIY bass guitar
Electric guitar 
Piano
Dishwasher
DAW programming and editing
Music and recording: Jeroen Smets, Belgium 2020-2023
Unmastered

Cuba Bow is one of the proposals I did for a documentary in 2020 about cuban doctors working around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's all in one take, recorded at my home. The DIY bass guitar was made for a theaterplay and I had to try it out, bowing it! The track kept intriguing me so I finally spend some time re-editing. I still could keep going on...but I think it will do fine for now.
The dishwasher was recorder on my phone. I heard it thumping trough my headphones while I was mixing this song, found it was perfectly in time and added it at the end.
At the end we picked a different song for the documentary, THE MATERIALIST, made by Frederik Jan Depickere: https://www.frederikjan.net

Cuba Bow (Re-edit 2023)

Experimental visual intuitive programming
using different programs you can find here:
https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments
DAW programming and editing
Music and recording: Jeroen Smets, Belgium 2023
Unmastered


The different experiments Chrome Music Lab provides are really fun and inspired me from the first moment I discovered it. I used a lot of layers and searched for surprising but coherent sounds and melodies. The only additional programming came from the DAW for sub bass, percussion and drum. This is definitely a new musical tool to cooperate in my setup. There is still so much more to explore!

Play Google Play

DIY Instruments
One string instruments
Live effects and loop pedals
Musicians: Ten participants, from 6 till 10 years old
Concept, live effects and loop pedal, recording and editing:  Jeroen Smets
Unmastered

Spoor Bijster litterally translates as losing trace or being off track. This track is a compilation of live recordings during performances presented at the European art festival Europalia 2021 - Trains and Tracks.
https://europalia.eu/en/europalia-trains-and-tracks/news/aftermovie-europalia-trains-and-tracks
Ten participants made there own diy instruments, mostly from recycled materials. Some one string instruments I made were used and some drum parts, but totally unconventional. During the recordings the participants played there instruments solo or in small groups, while I manipulated their signal using effects and loop pedals.
In collaboration and inter-creation with MUS-E BELGIUM, GC De Pianofabriek, Europalia.

Spoor Bijster - Live performance recordings - Trains and Tracks Europalia Festival

Voices
2 microphones
field recordings
Live effects and loop pedals
Musicians: 10 participants, four day residency and performance
Concept, recording and editing: Jeroen Smets and Patries Wichers
In collaborations with Mus-e Belgium

Voices - Soundtrack for the performance STEM INSTRUMENT at the Ars Musica Festival 2022

Directions to Parckfarm

Dans un quartier du centre du centre de Bruxelles un groupe de femme apprend à lire, écrire et parler français dans l’école de leur enfants. Pour elles, l’apprentissage du français représente un moyen de s’émanciper, de dépasser des peurs et des blocages.

Comment vivre à Bruxelles quand on ne maîtrise pas l’une des deux langues ?
Comment se sent-on quand tout ce qui nous entoure nécessite de savoir lire et écrire ?
Qu’est qu’on ferait si on savait parfaitement parler le français ?

A travers ce témoignage sonore, ces femmes tentent de répondre à ces questions, elles nous emmènent dans leur Bruxelles, une ville où le français est un frein mais peut devenir un moyen d’autonomie et de liberté.

Bruxelles, des femmes et des mots

Au cœur d’une école populaire et multiculturelle de Bruxelles, une dizaine de femmes prennent la parole pour parler du mariage. Mariage rêvé, mariage imposé, histoires d’amour ou de résignation… 

Résonance d’un été : une tragédie réinventée

Bshadia

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